GLENDALE, Ariz. (AP) _ For a journeyman on the blue line, Anders Eriksson is becoming quite a scoring threat.
Two days after his second goal of the season won a game against Minnesota, Eriksson had two against Phoenix, and the Columbus Blue Jackets skated to a 3-3 tie Monday night.
``You go in spurts when you're hot, I guess,'' said Eriksson, who played for Chicago, Florida and Toronto before signing with the Blue Jackets on Oct. 10. ``I never really knew what that felt like.''
David Vyborny tied the game at 2 on a penalty shot and assisted on Eriksson's goal that tied it again and helped Columbus earn a rare point in Phoenix.
``You take the goals from anywhere, anybody you can when you've got a player like Rick Nash out,'' assistant coach Gord Murphy said. ``It's got to be goals by committee. It was big. That's a real step in the right direction for our hockey club.''
Brian Boucher stopped 25 shots for the Coyotes. Ladislav Nagy and Jan Hrdina had a goal and an assist each, and Mike Sillinger scored a go-ahead goal in the third period.
But it wasn't enough for the Coyotes to end their four-game winless streak. They were 0-for-6 on the power play and continued the sloppy play that marked their three previous losses _ all at home.
The Coyotes are 8-11-4-1 at home, but only 2-7-2-0 in the new Glendale Arena.
``We've had a difficult time playing at home, put it on the table,'' Coyotes coach Bob Francis said.
Among their lapses was allowing a second penalty-shot goal in four games. Vyborny scored at 1:23 of the second period to tie the game at 2.
Eriksson scored both goals with 6:11 left in the first and third periods. His second negated Sillinger's score 1:20 into the final period.
The defenseman, who had only two goals coming in and 16 in his 382-game career, let fly with a one-timer high in the slot, and the puck drifted over Boucher's right shoulder.
``He's a smart player,'' goalie Marc Denis said. ``He's worked his way back this year from being a tryout at our training camp and through the American league and back on our roster. So he's been a big part of this team, and obviously he's picked up the slack lately.''
Denis had 29 saves for Columbus, which has the NHL's worst road record (3-15-4-2) but is 2-4-3-0 away from home since Gerard Gallant became interim coach on Jan. 1. The Blue Jackets are 0-4-3-0 overall in Phoenix.
Calgary's Shean Donovan beat the Coyotes with a penalty-shot goal on Jan. 27, scoring against Sean Burke with 2:08 remaining.
This time, Vyborny, who scored twice on penalty shots in 2000-01 to become the first rookie to do so, tied it at 2 against Boucher 1:23 into the second period.
Referee Stephane Auger awarded the free shot after Coyotes captain Shane Doan tripped Vyborny as he bore in on Boucher on a short-handed breakaway. Vyborny skated right, then curled left across the crease before shooting back past Boucher on the short side.
Nagy and Hrdina teamed up to give the Coyotes a 2-0 lead in the first 6:09.
Hrdina scored 1:43 in, slapping at a rebound until he sent it past Denis' right arm.
Minutes later, Nagy scored his team-high 23rd goal on a one-timer after Hrdina flicked a backhanded pass to him in the slot.
``It's disappointing, especially when you have a 2-0 lead at home,'' Doan said. ``You have as much time on the power play as we did, you have to bury them.''
